Punjab CM Badal demands UK apology over Bluestar role

Parkash Singh Badal has demanded an "unconditional" apology from Britain

Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Sikh organisations are furious after revelation of the British government's role in Operation Bluestar.

Badal has demanded that the British government tender an unconditional apology for supporting the Indian government in the "brutal crime" in which many innocent people were killed.

"Both the governments jointly perpetrated the heinous crime of attacking the most revered Sikh shrine - Sri Darbar Sahib in Amritsar - thereby, hurting the religious sentiments of Punjabis in general and the Sikhs in particular," Badal told media persons in Bhatinda on Wednesday, adding that "Sikhs would never forgive them for this sin against humanity".

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague on Tuesday said that Britain was consulted in the planning of the attack on the Golden Temple, but its advice on how to avoid loss of life was ignored.

The revelations in this report are in contradiction to the Indian government's claim that the 1984 assault was executed as an emergency response and was not a preplanned operation, as alleged by the Sikh community.

Canada-based World Sikh Organisation (WSO) has also demanded a probe into the attack on the Golden Temple, Balpreet Singh Boparai, legal counsel for WSO told Mail Today.